Almost 12 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the void in New York’s skyline is being filled. The final piece of One World Trade Center – a 408-foot spire – has been installed, raising the building to 1,776 feet and making it the tallest building in the US and third-tallest in the world.The signature skyscraper is one of four being built around the site of the former Twin Towers – the country’s most notable construction project. But as attention is drawn to the skies, on the ground the complex stop-start $14bn World Trade Center development, led by private developer Larry Silverstein, is still a frenzied construction site, and the buildings that are ready lie half empty.

The World Trade Center has struggled to find tenants as cost-wary corporations, stung by the global financial crisis and its fallout, downsize or search for cheaper office space elsewhere. In particular, financial services companies – traditionally the high-quality tenants that spurred office property development – have been more cautious, leaving many to wonder who will occupy these gleaming skyscrapers.“The developers are asking for very high rents as these buildings have cost so much to construct,” said Ben Carlos Thypin, director of market analysis at Real Capital Analytics. “They can’t afford to rent them for less.”Read More: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/318de228-c190-11e2-9767-00144feab7de.html#axzz2UcXsNN4f (paywall)

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Ben Carlos Thypin

I am currently the co-founder of Quantierra, the world's first data driven real estate brokerage and investment manager. In my former life as Director of Market Analysis at Real Capital Analytics, I worked with press outlets large and small to provide them with great data and insightful commentary. Here are some of the results of this collaboration. For the rest, please check out the News Archive.